Upgrade of speakers advice

Soldato
Joined
17 Feb 2009
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Hi all, so I currently have some tannoy SFX 5.1 speakers and have had these for about 5 years now. I've recently moved house and need speaker stands now but on research seems the only stands without DIY which I don't intend to do are the tannoy stands themselves. I don't intend to pay that much for 4 stands so its an excuse to upgrade the speakers. What speakers would you guys recommend for around the £150-200 mark? My amp is a Sony STR-DN1060 if that helps. And recommend some cheap and cheerful speaker stands?
 
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Assume you're talking about floorstanders as stands are out of the question.

You are definitely going to want to look second hand for that sort of budget, as floorstanders much less than £300 are a bit of a mistake I think, though this is recycled knowledge rather than my own experience.

These would be a lot of bang for buck if you don't mind something a bit older and are anywhere near Salford

https://www.avforums.com/threads/mission-752-freedom-floorstanders-rosewood-finish.2009037/
 
Stands aren't of the question. Just my current ones don't work with universal stands so its just an excuse to upgrade if loasible as the tannoy stands are expensive.
 
Thanks for that, any particular brand/model I should aim or look for?

any that's near you tbh since it's second hand and will most likely be collection only due to size and weight.

basically see what's near you, then google the product simple as that really. if you don't find any reviews then avoid. anything decent should have reviews on at least a couple of sites basically. what hi fi reviews aren't the best but they can point you in the right direction to whether it's decent or not.

i saw some guy near me selling 3 different sets of speakers. i googled them all then saw one of them was really good. i then haggled like hell over the price.it's good that i live in scotland where there isn't much competition for this kind of stuff. so i know i can haggle prices down. if you live down south there is more competition so you want to try and buy before someone else does if somethings up at a reasonable price.
 
KEF and Mission would be two good brands to look at. Tannoy would be a third but with caveats.

The challenge for any loudspeaker manufacturer is the cost of cabinet work and finishes. They often cost a hell of a lot more than the drivers!! Using vinyl wrap instead of real wood veneers is a big help, and moving production abroad makes a small but worthwhile dent in production costs too so long as there is sufficient volume in production to justify the costs. Once those two elements are out of the equation then the only corners left to cut are the ones that really start to bite in to the performance of the product. These are cheaper drivers (smaller magnets, less efficient, inferior materials, more distortion) and thinner cabinet construction with little or no internal bracing.

From a mechanical point of view it's easier to make a small rigid box (stand mounters) than a large box for floor standers on a budget. That's why the majority of what's in the entry level market for Hi-Fi speakers is stand-mount. From a customer's point of view though budget floor-standers look you get a hell of a lot for your money compared to stand-mounters. If you had X-ray eyes though you'd see where the compromises have been made. Fortunately we don't need X-ray eyes, we just need to listen.

Floor-standers with a target RRP of £150-£200 are really heavily compromised by their price. The result is that the gain in extra bass is often offset by worse performance when it comes to making that bass controlled and tight. The speakers just end up boomy and with bass that struggles to start and finish notes cleanly. This is why second-hand is such a good route at these sort of price points. When the target RRP is £350-£450 then there's a good chance that the cabinet will be thicker and reasonably well braced so that the drivers can do their job properly.

Have a look at some reviews and read up on the initial launch price of the speakers that interest you. KEF Q35.2 could be a decent shout if you can use the Tannoy sub with them. Also look at KEF Q1 stand-mounters. KEF also makes matching centres and surrounds. If £200 is the budget then I could quite easily see you picking up a front stereo pair and matching centre for that sort of money.
 
So I've found onkyo htx-22hdx can get the 5.1 set up, would you say this is a decent upgrade over my current Tannoy's? Thanks for all advice so far, very much appreciated!
 
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